The Port of Klickitat is located in Klickitat County in Bingen, Washington. Part of the Columbia River Waterway System, the Port of Klickitat is about 16 nautical miles downriver (26 kilometers or 16 miles northwest) from the Port of The Dalles. The Port of Klickitat is about 61 nautical miles upriver (103 kilometers or 64 miles east-northeast) from the Port of Portland. In 2010, the Port of Klickitat's city, Bingen, was home to 712 people.
Before Europeans arrived in the area, it was home to the Klickitat people. They were active traders who linked the tribes of the Cascade Mountains and the Pacific Coast. Their traditional lands were located in what is today Klickitat and Skamania counties. The Klickitat met the Lewis & Clark Expedition in 1805.
Finding themselves in the path of settlers invading south central Washington along the Columbia River, the Klickitat went to war. As a result, they were forced to cede their lands to the United States and were removed to the Yakima Indian Reservation in 1855.
In 1892, the Suksdorf brothers founded the town of Bingen, home of today's Port of Klickitat, naming the site after Bingen am Rhein, Germany. A post office was established there in 1896, and Theodore Suksdorf was the first Post Master.
To the north of the Port of Klickitat and Bingen is Mount Adams, the Northwest's second tallest mountain. To the south is Mount Hood in Oregon. A toll bridge connects the Port of Klickitat and Bingen across the Columbia River to Hood River, Oregon. The Port of Klickitat, lumber, and fruit orchards are the economic base for the town.
The Port of Klickitat is the major shipping center for the area, as Bingen is the gateway to Washington's Fruit Belt and the White Salmon Valley. Two major employers for the region, SDS Lumber and Underwood Fruit, are located in Bingen near the Port of Klickitat.
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